I have always wanted to have a go at making recipe cards and turning them into a gift somehow. When I was doing research for the Christmas in July 2011 series, I came across a Recipe Booklet How-To from Martha Stewart which seemed easy enough for even me to do!
To keep with my eco-friendly Christmas theme this year with the exception of the wrapping paper used to cover the booklet, all paper is made from 100% post consumer recycled waste paper :).
How to make your own recipe cards and booklet
To make your own recipe booklet you will need:
- 2 x A4 pieces of card (I used Kraft Brown ReCycled Card, 205gsm, purchased from PlazaDJ on eBay/)
- 1 x C6 envelope (I used 114 x 162mm Botany Natural, 100% Recycled Brown Kraft, purchased from Envelope Solutions.)
- 1 x A4 recylced white paper
- 1 glue stick
- Double sided tape (optional)
- Scissors and Guillotine
- Printer
We need to make a plain card and stick the envelope inside it, so it acts as the holder of the recipe cards. To make sure it fits, mark out on the A4 card the width of the envelope and double its height. Then use the guillotine or scissors to cut the card to the right size.
Using wrapper paper of choice, cut out a length that will cover the outside of your card, I chose to have overhang and glue the paper to the inside as well. Martha’s didn’t! Use a glue stick to stick the paper to the card.
My card was turning slightly so I placed it under my MacBook until it dried to flatten it out.
Fold and cut the envelope before you stick it to the inside of the card, so you will be able to easily insert and take out recipe cards once it is stuck to the card. I used double sided tape to stick the envelope to the card.
This next step took me the longest out of everything – setting up a recipe card template that would print onto one A4 piece of paper that I could then make into 4 recipe cards that would fit into the envelope.
I will save you the pain and time, as I have uploaded my word document for you to use as is or to modify with your own recipes. If you use my recipes, I just ask that you leave the www.planningwithkids.com attribution on the recipe cards – thanks :). Here it is – Recipe Card Template for Christmas Recipe Booklet.
Once cut into four, I then used double sided tape to attach them onto card. I had simply cut the other A4 card into quarters to fit the envelope.
Tested that they fitted and we were nearly done!
I added a label to the front of the booklet and will now pair the booklet up with the homemade Dukkah for an original handmade Christmas Gift.
Have you made your own recipe cards before?